The present invention relates to an elevated bikeway to provide a dedicated path for bicycle traffic isolated from both motor vehicle and pedestrian traffic. More particularly, it provides an elevated bikeway to carry bicycle traffic over roadways, streams, and other terrain features which are inhospitable to bicycle traffic.
Many of the problems of the United States and other industrialized countries can be traced to the emergence of widespread, almost universal, dependence on automobile transportation. Among these problems are innercity decay and suburban sprawl, both brought about by the automobile; air pollution caused by automobile exhaust; great human suffering and loss of life arising from automobile traffic accidents; and landscapes blighted with automobile junkyards. Another serious problem is the steady decay in the physical well being of members of the population due to a lack of exercise. At first growing slowly, these negative side effects of reliance on automobiles have become pervasive.
There have been proposals to alleviate many of these problems by creating an alternate transportation system relying primarily on bicycles. There are now a few stalwart individuals in society who rely on bicycles for transportation almost exclusively. However, the number of persons so committed is small. The number has not increased primarily because of the lack of facilities for bicycles.
For want of a better route, most bicyclists today travel on streets and roadways at great danger to themselves from motorized vehicles sharing the same roadway. There have been suggestions to construct dedicated bike paths and bikeways limited solely to bicycle traffic. Such bikeways are commendable and the construction of them would encourage bicycling by additional members of the population.
However, the development of bikeways on a scale greater than mere tokenism has been retarded by cost projections.
One of the major expenses in constructing a dedicated bikeway is interfacing the bikeway path with the existing system of streets, roads, and other terrain features which might provide problems for a bicyclist. Dedicated pedestrian walkways are known, using concrete construction as overpasses for highways and the like, and local governments and other constructing authorities have generally assumed that this type of concrete structure would be necessary for a bikeway overpass. In view of the costs of such pedestrian overpasses the authorities have shunned the bikeway development concept.
Accordingly, there is a need in the art for an elevated bikeway which can be quickly and easily assembled at extremely low cost and which will provide a reliable structure for many years.